Winning by default.

I have posted 16 different responses this month to Linkedin articles that claim to know the secret to the perfect workplace, the perfect boss, the perfect employees, and the perfect life in general. One post was the highest rated. I posted it four times, in response to 4 different articles. Here’s my post:

“High-achievers are the heart and soul of any winning team. High-performance is the by-product of intangibles that separate them from the rest. They do what others are unwilling and incapable of doing because of a mindset that consistently brings out their best and the best of their team. The starting point of all high-achievers is non-acceptance of mediocrity. Thank you for the air time. #peace”

This was my highest-rated Linkedin post in the past six months. It’s not the first time that this theme has boosted ratings. It’s happened before. Here’s the reason that explains the high ratings: Winning teams, high-achievers, and high-performance share one thing in common – sexiness. They are extremely attractive. They command attention. And, there’s the apparent simplicity – the intangibles that reject mediocrity, half-assed effort, and full-out incompetence. It all sounds easy. People press like, post “amen,” and even share it, probably on company time.

High-achieving, high-performance winning teams excite people. Exhibit A – pro sports fans. They live vicariously for high-achieving, high-performance winning teams. The good news is that they could be part of one if they invested the same passion into their own team. Here’s a true story. My gym, X Fitness, has paid for a non-profit collegiate club football team called the Niagara X-Men. We didn’t sponsor it, we paid for it – financially and in mind, body, and soul. Paid the bills and coached every element of the team on the field and in the gym. The team has one purpose – to make dreams come true. In 2005, I thought I had seen and heard it all in coaching football. Turns out, that wasn’t true. Just when you think you’ve experienced it all, another lesson is learned. Three starters missed a game to sit on their asses in the stands of an NFL game, on the same day as their own game-day. Ya, I’m not making it up. Instead of chasing their own dreams, they paid to watch other people chase their dream. Dual meaning – the dreams that the pro athletes had for themselves and my players’ own dreams that the pro athletes won by default. There’s the key – winning by default. My players decided to lose their dreams by default, willingly relinquishing their dreams and paying for it; giving money to watch their dreams taken by default by someone else.

The reasons why the above post was so popular is that it’s lifting and takes no effort to like. Just as my absent players proved, it’s easier to sit in the stands than to play in the game. No pain, all pleasure.

This a copyrighted excerpt of a new book I’m writing, a book intended to inspire readers to build their intangibles and to not lose by default.

Please listen to my new Podcast called Blunt Talk www.BluntTalk.libsyn.com Two episodes have been posted. Episode 3 will be posted on Monday. Episode 3 is called “Nothing Just Happens” with guest Leon Robinson, an artist and ex-football player from Hamilton, Ontario. There are no coincidences, just connections. Paths are crossed for a reason. We can choose to ignore the reason or wake up to the purpose of our path-crossings. What we invest in others is an investment into self. Nothing just happens. Paths are crossed that make it happen. Leon explains his story, sharing blunt-talk insights about how to reach your professional goals.

He also has written 20 editions of 6 law enforcement academic textbooks. A new 8-volume interrogation book series will be released in 2014. And just released, a new children’s book called “BE FIT – DON’T QUIT.” His latest book on human potential called “Hashtag Peace” is at the editing stage. He just finished another book called “Lifter’s High.” Both will be released soon.